This invention relates to apparatus utilized during surgical procedures. More particularly it relates to surgical basins and containers used during surgical procedures which must be used in a sterile field.
Surgical basins are currently used during surgical procedures to receive biological materials and disposable items used during the procedure. The basin is usually made of a hard plastic material. Obviously, the basin must be sterilized before it is taken into the operating room. Normally the basin is sterilized before in a sealed bag to avoid contamination of the basin before use. Because the bag is to provide sterility, it is rather expensive, in some cases costing as much as $1.20. Often a pair of basins are placed in the same bag, one inside the other. A sterile sheet is normally used to wrap the basins prior to placing them in the bag. The sheet is utilized in the operating room to provide a sterile field around the basin. Quite often other surgical devices are placed in one of the basins prior to shipment such as tubing, gloves, gauze, surgical blades, pads, and the like. Thus the basin may carry some rather expensive surgical materials.
It has been found that during shipping and handling of the packaged basins, the outer bag often becomes punctured, thus the entire package is no longer useful since it may no longer be sterile. It is believed that as many as 7 percent of the packaged basins which are shipped become so damaged that disposal is required. Thus the costs are increased proportionally due to this damage. It is therefore desirable to provide a less expensive and better means to provide a sterile package for basins and other surgical materials which also forms a sterile field for use during the surgical procedure.